Car-replacer



(No Model.) l

E. 8a E. B. NEWCOMB. GAR REPLA'GBR.

No. 425,622. K Patented Apr. 15, 1890.

w: mams Vanns ca., muro-uma., wAsHmaTun D c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELISHA NEXVCOMB AND ERlVIN B. NEVCOMB, OF CUMBERLAND MILLS, MAINE.

CAR-REPLACER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 425,622, dated April 15, 1890.

Application filed January 2, 1890. Serial No. 335,651. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that we, ELISHA NEWCOMB and ERWIN B. NEWCOMB, of Cumberland Mills, county of Cumberland, State of Maine, have invented an Improvement in Car-Replacers, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specication, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

Our invention relates to a car-replacer for facilitating the operation of replacing derailed wheels upon the track.

The invention is embodied in an apparatus comprising auxiliary rails arranged to be supported on the sleepers adjacent to the main rails of the track onto which the derailed wheels are to be lifted, the said auxiliary rails forming inclined planes that receive the treads of the derailed wheels, so that when the car is pulled toward the said auxiliary rails the said wheels run up the inclined planes, and are raised thereby suficientlyhigh to pass onto the rails of the main track. The wheel that is between. the rails of the main track need only be lifted far enough to bring the tread to the top of the main rail, while the wheel that is outside the track will have to be lifted higher or raised sufficiently to -bring the periphery of its flange to the top of the main rail.

The apparatus comprises, in addition to the inclined planes or lifting-rails, a guide which co-operates with the lifting-rail between the tracks and acts upon the inner face of the wheel at the back of its flange, the said guiderail being inclined in the horizontal plane to the main track and acting to wedge or crowd the wheel toward the main-track rail, so that when the wheels are raised high enough to come upon the main track they are crowded laterally by the guide into proper position upon the main track-that is, with the ilanges of the pair of wheels between the main rails.

The invention consists, mainly,in details of construction of the part-s thus far described and their relations to one another, and to the means for fastening them upon the sleepers in proper relation to the main track.

For convenience the lifting-rail and guide, which together act upon the derailed wheel that is between the rails of the main track, will be called a frog, as it somewhat resembles the frogs employed where two rails cross and intersect one another at an acute angle; and in accordance with this invention the said frog-piece comprises a guide-piece which has a broad base to rest upon the sleepers, and also has projections that engage with the main rail, and at an intermediate point in its length is provided with a support for the lifting-rail or inclined plane that co-operates with it. The said v lifting-rail is preferably pivoted at an intermediate point on the guidepiece and may be turned so as to lie adjacent to either end of the guide-piece and between the same and the main rail, so that the flange of the wheel to be replaced will come between the guide-piece and the lifting-rail, and the said lifting-rail will be between the flange of the wheel and the main rail and will raise the tread of the wheel to the level of the main rail by the time that the guide, acting upon the inner face of the wheel, has crowded the outer face or edge of the wheel out to the main rail, which will then support the wheeltread as the latter passes off from the liftingrail and is further acted upon by the guide to crowd the wheel over to its normal position on the track.

The part of the apparatus that acts upon the wheel that is outside the rails of the main track is a reversible inclined plane having a suitable base to engage firmly with the sleepers and rising so high that the wheel, the tread of which runs up said inclined plane, will have its flange raised to the top of the main rail by the time that the crowding action of the guide between the rails carries the said wheel laterally far enough to bring the flange on to the main rail, after which it will run along with the lange of the wheel rolling on the main rail until the crowding action of the guide forces it over to the inside of the main rail, when the wheel will drop to its proper position on the track.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a car-wheel replacer embodying this invention in working position with relation to the main track and to the pair of wheels that are to'be replaced, which are shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the frog-piece, as seen looking from the side toward the middle of the track; Fig. 3,a side elevation of the liftingrail that acts on the -wheel outside of the IOO co-operates with the wheel B2, that is outside with spurs, as shown at n.30, Fig. 2, to enter of the main rail D, the said frog-piece and lifting-rail being each of a length to span three sleepers of the track and be supported thereon and being placed each with one end upon the sleeper against which the derailed wheels come to rest. The frog-piece A comprises a guiding portion @which may be a casting and has a foot or flange a2, which rests upon the sleepers and may b e provided the sleepers and securely hold the said piece in position thereon. Midway of its length the said guide-piece is provided with a projection as, (best shown inFig. 5,) properly` shaped to engage with the ange of the main rail C, as shown, a'nd said projection is provided with a pin or pivot u, upon which the liftingrail b, which may also be a casting,

is pivoted. Near each eud'the said guide-` piece `is provided with lateral projections a5 a, Fig. 1, also properly shaped to engage with the flange of the main rail C, and the said frog-piece is placed upon the sleeper with the middle projection a3 and the end projection f0.6 that is remote from the wheels to be replaced in engagement with the main rail C, thus bringing the said guide-piece 'at an angle tothe said main rail, as shown, its end next the wheel to be replaced being at a greater distance from the main rail than the end remote from said wheel, and being such distance as to come within the inner face of the said wheel B or at the back of the flange thereof. Both ends of the guide-piece are alike, and it will be apparent that it can be set with either end nearest the main rail, as

required in any particular case, according as it is placed at one or the other side of the wheelB or as it is needed at one or the other side of .the main track. Before setting the guide-piece on the sleepers, as just described, the lifting-rail b, that is pivoted thereon, is turned to the end of the guide-piece toward the wheel to be replaced, an'd said lifting-rail then comes between the projection a5 and thc flange of the main rail, as best .shown in Fig. 4, and may be securely fastened to the guidepiece a, in any convenient manner. As shown in this instance, the said lifting-rail b is provided with a transverse opening b2, crossed by a vertical pin b3, which passes through alink b4, that can be brought over a stud or proj ection a7, fastened to the projection a5, as shown in Fig. 4. vThe upper face of the lifting-rail 'b near its pivoted end at the middle ot the guide-piece is at a height nearly equal to or a trifle above the height of the main rail C, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 5, and inclines downward from its pivoted end to the end that rests on the sleepernext the wheel to be replaced, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, the saidA end being provided with a spur b@ to engage` with the sleeper. The upper face of said rail thus constitutes an inclined plane up which the tread of the wheel B rolls when pulled toward the frog-piece, and the space between the guide a and the main rail is such that the` said guide crowds the wheel toward the main rail, and by the time that its tread is lifted by the rail b to the height of the main rail the outer edge of its tread will be crowded'vlr over to the main rail, so that bythe time that the tread of the wheel has passed over and olf from the lifting-rail b it will be received upon i the main rail C, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, .r

guide will i i and in its further movement the crowd it farther onto the main rail.

The lifting-rail E at the outside of the track may be a casting properly shaped, as shown g in Figs.1 and 3, to give suiiicient, strength the sleepers, said rail also constituting aninclined plane similar in its action to the liftingwit-h comparatively `small' weight, and itis'xr u provided with spurse (see Fig.-3) to engage` i een t, before explained, but higher, se that by the time the crowding action of the guide f a` has moved the wheel Bzlaterally far enough to bring its flange to the rail DA said wheel will` have been lifted by the rail E high enough to bring the outer periphery of its iange to the top of the main rail, onto which it will pass by the crowding action of the guide a, which will continue until the flange of the wheel B2 has been carried across the rail D and drops into placeat the inside of said rail. The upper portion of the guide a projects above the level of the top of the lifting-rail b; as clearlyshown in Figs. etA and 5, so that', although it commonly acts upon the inner face of the wheel inside the flange, it will nevertheless act efficiently on an unlanged wheel, such as used on locomotives.

In order to support the guide av laterally while its wedging action is going on, it may be fastened or braced by connection with the adjacent rail or with the opposite rail, as preferred. As shown in this instance, the said guide is provided with transverse openings am (see Fig. 2) ata short distance from its middle, through which the end of the bracepiece I-l passes, the said brace-piece `having an offset or shoulder h, (see Fig. 5,) that bears against the guide a.. The end of said bracepiecebeyond the shoulder passes through the opening al and engages the main rail C below its head, as shown at h2, Fig. 5, while the opposite end of the said brace is constructed, as shown at h3, Fig. 1, to engage with the opposite main rail D, and thus securely fasten the frog-piece.

We claimy A 1. The combination of the guide-piece with the lifting-rail having one end pivotally con nected with said guide-piece at the middle of its length, the said lifting-rail being movable on its pivot to a position adjacent to either lend of said guide-piece, and the saidguide- IDO piece projecting above the upper surface of the lifting-rail, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of the lifting-rail adapted to be supported on the sleepers at the outside of the main rail and forming au inclined plane Which receives the tread of the Wheel and raises the said wheel` until its flange is brought above the top of the main rail, with the frog adapted to be supported between the rails, said frog comprising a guide-piece that acts on the inner face of the wheel, and a lifting-rail connected with the said guidepiece, the said guide extending higher than the said lifting-rail, whereby it may act upon an unflanged zwheel, substantially as described.

3. The guide-piece provided with a lateral projection at its middle point and one near each end adapted to engage with the main rail, the middle projection extending farther than the end ones, combined-with a liftingrail connected with the middle projection of the said guide-piece and adapted to engage with one of the end projections thereof between it and the main rail, While the other end projection is engaged with the main rail, substantially as described.

4. The guide-piece provided with a lat-eral projection at its middlepoint and one near each end adapted to engage with the main rail, combined with a lifting-rail connected with the middle projection of said guide-piece and adapted to engage with one of the end projections thereof, and a fastening by which said lifting-rail is connected with said end projection of the guide-piece, substantially as described.

5. The guide-piece and lifting-rail pivotally connected at one end with the middle of said guide-piece, said guide-piece having transverse openings, combined with a brace having aprojection that passes through one of the said openings of the guide-piece and a shoulder that engages said guide-piece at the side of the openings, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof We have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

ELISHA NEWCOMB. ERWIN B. NEWCOMB. Witnesses:

CHAs. B. GRAHAM, ALMEDA B. SHAW. 

